Few of the trees or shrubs of A. produce edible fruits, and those known as Tasma nian currants, Tasmanian cranberries, etc., are not of much value. The seeds of the araucarias are edible, having some resemblance to almonds. Almost none of the native vegetable productions of A. have been found worthy of the care of the gardener, except_ as objects of beauty or curiosity; and it produces no plant which has yet found its way, or seems in the least degree likely to find its way, into acricu]ture—unless, indeed, some. of its pasture plants may prove to be peculiarly adapted to dry climates. But the cul tivated plants of other countries have been introduced with great success by the colo nists, and their gardens boast not only of the fruits common in England and the south of Europe, but of some of those of China.
The zoology of A. is particularly characterized by the prevalence of marsupial (q.v.) quadrupeds, of which comparatively few exist in any other part of the world. Some of them are herbivorous, as the kangaroos (q.v.), potoroos (q.v.), and wombats (q.v.); some feed indifferently on roots and insects, as the bandicoots (q.v.); some are carnivorous, as the (q.v.) and the dasyure (q.v.)—the tiger and the trild cat of the colonists--" but all are marsupial; that is, the females have a pouch for the young, which are born in a much less advanced state than the young of other viviparous animals. Besides its marsupial quadrupeds, A. has few others, yet known, except some species of bat; a kind' of dog, known as the dingo (q.v.); and the echidnas (q.v.) and duck-bills (O?nitho•hyn chus) (q.v.), animals which have been regarded as forming a connecting link between quadrupeds and birds, both upon account of external form and anatomical structure, and to which nothing at all similar exists in any other part of the world.
Many of the birds of A. are very beautiful, but they do not exhibit peculiarities so general and striking as its quadrupeds, or even its plants. The emu (Qv.) may be regarded as the Australian representative of the ostrich and cassowary. The black swan is chiefly remarkable for its color. Ducks of various kinds, falcons, doves, parrots, and. many other birds of families well known elsewhere, connect the natural history of this, isolated continent with that of the other regions of the globe.—Reptiles are but exhibit as a class no very marked peculiarities, nor is there in any other department of zoology so wide a difference from the rest of the world as in the mammalia.. Among. the fish of the Australian shores and rivers are many species which are not found else where, but they present no remarkable common characteristic. Among them are no trouts, salmon, or other salmonida, which, indeed, do not extend into the southern hem isphere. Attempts to export ova to A., and colonize her waters with salmon, have not been successful.
As to the cultivated productions, wool may be reckoned the grand staple of Austra lia. For sheep-farming, the country, so far as it is not a desert, seems to be admirably adapted. The colonist, instead of having, as in America, to hew his way through dense forests, with tangled underwood, sees around him either open pastures or park-like woods overshadowing their green sward. His main difficulty is the scarcity of water, or rather the possibility that such a scarcity may occur. Wheat ;$ grown to advantage, particu
larly in South Australia; cotton, tobacco, and sugar are produced in New South Wales and Queensland; the vine is grown extensively by the colonists, who have begun to avail themselves of the capabilities of the respective colonies by rearing the productions of tropical and temperate climates, both of which are possessed by Australia.
Iii4ory.—In 1606, the north coast was descried by the Dutch on board of the Diteen, and about the Sallie time by a Spanish expedition sent from Peru in 1605, one of the commanders of which gave his name to Torres Straits. It is probable, however, that A. had been long known to the Chinese. In 1619 and 1622 respectively, the west and south west coasts were seen. In 1642, the island, called for some time Van Diemen's Land, but now Tasmania, was visited by Tasman, who, within a month, sighted also New Zealand. In 1697, Swan river was discovered by Vlaming. In 1770, Cook, then on his first voy age, explored nearly the whole of the east coast, designating the same New South Wales. In 1798, Bass, a surgeon in the navy, ascertained the separation of A. and Tasmania, by passing through the strait that bears his name. In 1802, Port Philip was entered; and in the same year, Flinders pretty nearly completed the general outline by sailing along the southern shore. To pass from discovery to colonization: there was established, in 1788, the settlement of New South Wales, and from this all the other British Australian settlements, with the exception of Swan river, have successively been planted. Norfolk island, erected, in 1790, into a penal settlement for New South Wales, was in 1856 allot ted to the descendants of the mutineers of the Bounty, most of whom were removed for this purpose from Pitcairn's island. The other colonies, whether offshoots or not of New South Wales, assumed an independent existence in the following order: Tasmania, 1325; Western A. or Swan river, 1829; South A., 1834; New Zealand, 1841; Victoria.
Australian. 34 1851; and, lastly, Queensland or Moreton bay, 1859 (see these heads). Besides these flour ishing colonies, a settlement was established near Port Essington in 1839, but was aban doned in 1845, on account of the unhealthiness of the climate. Subjoined is a summary table of statistics for all the more important of these dependencies, not including those incipient settlements that have been effected along the course, and at the terminus, of the overland line of telegraph.
The native population of A. belongs to the race or group of tribes variously desig nated as negritos, Austral moves, or keleenortesians (" black islanders"). The chief mem bers of the group, besides the Australians, are the Papuans of New Guinea, New Cale donia, and New Hebrides, and the natives of Tasmania. See ETHNOLOGY, _NEGRITOS. The Tasmanians are now extinct, and the Australians are rapidly diminishing in num ber; their condition will be considered under the head of each colony. In Victoria they still number 1330 (not included in the foregoing table). The 38,540 natives of New Zealand (also not included in the table) belong to the Polynesians (q.v.).